CEDAR KEY, Fla. — Four people were rescued by Coast Guard crewmembers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission crewmembers after their 24-foot commercial vessel became disabled approximately 26 miles west of here, Tuesday.

The wife of the vessel’s operator contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Yankeetown at 9 p.m., reporting her husband and his three customers were overdue from a fishing trip. The four people had departed from the operator’s residence on the Suwannee River at 7 a.m., and had not returned.

An HC-130 Hercules aircraft aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., was launched at approximately 12 a.m., Wednesday. While conducting search patterns, the Hercules aircrew witnessed two flares coming from a vessel with four people on board. The aircrew confirmed that the vessel was possibly anchored or aground because their position was holding.

An FWC boatcrew was vectored on scene shortly after. FWC confirmed that it was the overdue people and their vessel had a dead battery.